Apartment Hunting
by VillageVoice
Summary: Alex and Olivia go apartment hunting. Not as much fun as one would think. Alex/Olivia pairing.


**Law & Order: Special Victims Unit  
'Apartment Hunting'  
**  
**Disclaimer:** Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and all characters associated with it belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. As much as I wish they were mine they aren't. Too bad though I could do a lot of good with them.

**Summary:** Alex and Olivia go apartment hunting. Not as much fun as one would think.

**Reviews Welcome, but please be nice.  
VillageVoice**

* * *

ADA Alex Cabot bit her lip to keep from laughing and pulled the detective by her side out of the apartment before she burst out laughing.

"Alex this is not funny. This is the twenty-third apartment we've looked at."

Alex stopped laughing and walked over to the dark haired woman, wrapping her arms around her neck and placing a gentle kiss on her lips. "I'm sorry Liv. But did you see that place? I've heard rats can make great pets, but I highly doubt they meant those. We can get you a rat if you want, but from a pet store. Not next to the toilet in our bathroom."

Detective Olivia Benson allowed herself a small laugh before wrapping her arms around the blonde in front of her. "But twenty-three Alex? Really?"

"I will look at a hundred and twenty-three if it means we find the perfect place."

Olivia sighed. Alex was right. "Where to next?"

Alex smiled and placed another kiss on the detective's lips. "Right up the street. Don't you know twenty-four is the magic number?"

"I doubt it." Olivia groaned as Alex dragged her down the street to the next apartment on what seemed to be a never ending list.

* * *

Alex looked over her laptop at Olivia with a smile on her face. The detective was fast asleep on the couch. No doubt she was completely exhausted. The first week day off either woman had in a long time and Alex forced the detective to spend it running around apartment hunting. She turned back to her laptop. She just wanted them to have the perfect apartment. During her time in Witness Protection she had spent a lot of time living in places she didn't like. She was not going to do that again. Now that she had a say in where she would be living it was going to be perfect no matter how long it took to find it. Although, she reasoned, anywhere with Olivia would be perfect. She just preferred a three or four bedroom with a master suite, two bath, fireplace, great views, relatively close driving distance to SVU, the DA's office and the courthouse, a place in the city and preferably rat free.

Alex smiled. It sounded impossible. But at one point, her being with Olivia sounded impossible too. The master suite was non-negotiable, she needed a smaller room for her office, a guestroom would be nice and it would be nice to have another room for a kid or two. She and Olivia both wanted kids that much they had talked about. It was just a matter of how and when, but the presence of an empty room for a future child would help them talk about the specifics a lot sooner. The bathrooms, one for the master suite and another for guests. Great views to let her know she wasn't in Wisconsin or anywhere but in New York with Olivia. And a fireplace where they could snuggle up to escape the horrors they see every day.

She had a fair amount of money saved up from her time in Witness Protection that she hadn't done anything with. She didn't use the money while in the program so she figured buying a place with Olivia would be the best use for it. The money was her last connection to her years in the program and she thought there to be no greater use for it than to secure a future for her and Olivia.

Of course it had been a battle to get Olivia to agree to it.

"_Alex I asked you."_

"_So?" Alex countered. "Does that mean I can't pay for it?"_

_Olivia let out a slow, calming breath. "I was thinking more of you moving in here. Not us getting another apartment."_

"_I know it makes you uncomfortable Liv, but let me do this. I haven't done anything with the money I made while in Witness Protection. It's just sitting in the bank waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. I never want to think about those years again." She reached forward and took Olivia's hand. "I don't know how to explain it, but what I went through in those years . . . I'd like to turn it into something good."_

_Olivia looked deep into Alex's eyes. She could tell the ADA really wanted to do this. "Buying a place together is very different from moving in together."_

_Alex took a step back. She didn't even think about that. She had always assumed that when she and Olivia moved in together it would be into their own place. A place they both owned and held nothing but hopefully positive memories of their relationship. Not previous relationships, no reminders of Alex 'dying' or going into witness protection or of bad cases followed by a long night of drinking. A clean start. "Do you not want to?"_

_Olivia wrapped her arms around Alex's waist, bringing the blonde as close as she could. "You Alex Cabot are one pushy woman."_

_Alex smiled. "But you love it."_

_Olivia smiled back. "I do."_

"_So?"_

_Olivia leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on Alex's lips. "Let's do it."_

That conversation happened almost six months ago. After enlisting the help of a real estate agent who either didn't understand what they wanted or didn't care, Alex decided to take the job of apartment hunting on herself. Olivia helped when she could, but she was a lot busier than Alex was lately. Besides it was the blonde's idea so she figured it was only fair she did the majority of the work.

It was hard to find times when they could look at apartments, which was why it was taking so long. Well that and Alex's criteria were impossible to find all together in one apartment. "Oh my God!"

Alex set her laptop aside and was on her feet in a minute. She jotted a few things down on a notepad and gently woke Olivia. "Liv?" She placed a kiss to her cheek.

Olivia groaned. "What?" She asked sleepily.

"I found the perfect place. Come on."

Olivia opened one eye to glance at the time on the cable box. "Alexandra Cabot it is after midnight this had better be _the_ one."

"Just as much as you are." Alex said with a quick kiss to Olivia's lips.

"Alex we can't just go over there it's too late-"

"I know someone." She threw Olivia's jacket at her. "Come on."

* * *

They got to the apartment building rather quickly. There was no deterring Alex when she set her sights on something; be it an apartment, a child molester or a cup of premium brewed coffee.

There was a woman standing at the door to the building.

"Casey?" Olivia questioned.

The redhead turned toward Olivia and Alex. "It's late Alex."

Alex nodded. "I know I know I'm sorry."

"Why did we have to see this now?" Casey asked.

"Because it just came on the market-"

"Half an hour ago." Casey interrupted. "I know. I put it there."

"Yes and as we both know someone can take an apartment off the market in less time than that. You e-mailed me the listing."

"I wouldn't have if I knew you wanted to see it as soon as I sent it." Casey sighed, but unlocked the door and let Alex and Olivia in.

"Real estate?" Olivia questioned. She knew Casey had been disbarred, but she hadn't expected this.

"I'm working on getting my license to practice law back, but appeals take time. I interned at a real estate firm in law school. I remembered a couple of things." She explained.

Olivia nodded in understanding. She put a hand on Casey's shoulder and smiled. "It's good to see you Case. We've missed you around the station."

Casey smiled back. "I've missed you guys too. I thought about stopping by a few times, but-"

"You should." Olivia interrupted.

The ride up was quiet until they stopped at the eighth and top floor. They stepped off the elevator and Casey guided them to the right. There were only two apartments on the floor. "Okay, four bedrooms, three bath, two floor apartment, new appliances, central air, fireplace in the living room, hardwood floors." Casey rattled off, unlocking the door and letting Alex and Olivia step through.

"Wow." They said in unison. The apartment was beautiful. It met each of Alex's criteria. After a small entrance way they walked into the kitchen on the right, complete with new stainless steel appliances and marble countertops. Through the open archway to the left was a dining room. Olivia raised an eyebrow. She never had an actual dining room before. There was another open archway on the side wall that lead out to the living room, a beautiful fireplace on the middle of the back wall, big open windows on either side all covered by a high ceiling. Out of the kitchen to the right was a hallway with one bedroom and a bathroom on one side and two other bedrooms on the other. At the back of the living room on the right was a staircase that led to the master bedroom and bath upstairs.

Alex turned to Olivia with a big smile on her face. "This is the one."

Olivia collapsed down on the couch in front of the fireplace. "Finally."

Alex literally jumped for joy. A seemingly uncharacteristic act for Alex Cabot, but Alex hadn't really been Alex since the night she was shot. Olivia laughed to herself. She loved every day she spent with the blonde. There was always something new to learn. A new little quirk that made itself known. She turned to Casey. "How soon can we get the papers drawn up?"

Olivia bit her tongue as she heard a less than ladylike groan come from the former attorney. She caught the counselor's eyes and mouthed a comforting, _'It will be okay.'_

"And we can start furniture shopping online so that we know exactly what to get when we go out first thing tomorrow."

Olivia let out a slow, calming breath and dropped her head back on the couch all the while wondering by what bad twist of fate did she have the weekend off. _'This is not going to be okay.'_


End file.
